The move, which Trump announced via Twitter on Friday morning, gives him full ownership of the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants and completes a divorce begun in June when NBC announced it was ending its business relationship with Trump, who also had starred on the network as host of "The Celebrity Apprentice."

The network said in June it was severing ties with Trump because of comments he made about Mexican immigrants during his presidential campaign kickoff speech.

"At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values," NBC said in a June statement. "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump."

At the time, NBC said it would no longer air the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which had been a joint venture between the company and Trump. Miss USA had aired on NBC since 2003. This year's edition had been set for July 12, but aired instead on cable's Reelz network.

The ever-litigious Trump promptly threatened to sue NBC for breach of contract.

Meanwhile, Univision cancelled its coverage of the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which led to a $500 million lawsuit brought by Trump claiming his First Amendment rights were violated as well as claiming a breach of contract.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this Associted Press story said Trump had settled lawsuits against NBC. While Trump had legal disputes with NBC and claimed he filed lawsuits, none were actually filed.The NBC network and this station are part of the NBCUniversal family.